If you can still write in spite of the fact that you're not getting paid, that nobody cares about what you're writing, that nobody wants to publish it, that everybody is telling you to do something else, and you still want to and you still enjoy it and you can't stop doing it...then you're a writer.
Interpretation
A true writer writes for the love of writing, regardless of external validation or success.
This quote articulates the essence of being a writer: the intrinsic motivation to write despite external challenges and lack of recognition. It emphasizes that genuine passion for the craft is what defines a writer, highlighting that the act of writing itself is fulfilling, independent of financial gain or societal approval.
In practice
This quote can inspire aspiring writers during a workshop to keep pursuing their passion for writing.
One of the things that writing has taught me is that fiction has a life of its own. Fictional places are sometimes more real than the view from our bedroom window. Fictional people can sometimes become as close to us as our loved ones.
You don't write because someone sets assignments! You write because you need to write, or because you hope someone will listen or because writing will mend something broken inside you or bring something back to life.
If you can actually get someone to sit on the edge of their seat and feel nervous if there's a knock at the door, then you've done something pretty terrific as a writer.
It isn't just a village. The houses aren't just places to live. Everything belongs to everybody. Everyone belongs to everyone else. Even a single person can make a difference.
Inevitably, every part an actor plays contains some of himself.
If you really do want to be an actor who can satisfy himself and his audience, you need to be vulnerable. [You must] reach the emotional and intellectual level of ability where you can go out stark naked, emotionally, in front of an audience.
Pixar films are not realistic. They are believable for the worlds we are creating.
We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.
I enjoy reading about the lives of musicians, and find many similarities in their ideas of preparation and their utter devotion to this great, eternal language: music.
My films, I've tried to put a message into them. It's not about the gore; it's not about the horror element that are in them. It's more about the message, for me. That's what it is, and I'm using this platform to be able to show my feelings of what I think.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.